Naruto: The Next Generation
by Ghostboy814
Summary: Watch the children of everyone's favorite ninja as they begin their journey as genin! Character deaths at the beginning.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

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The Rokudaime felt an odd pain in his abdomen when he woke up that morning. His wife, who was due to have their first child any day now, told him that she felt the same.

Obviously hers was for a different reason.

He rushed her to the hospital where a pair of medic-nins immediately took charge of her. He wanted to stay by her side, of course he did, but they told him that she was just starting to have serious contractions and the baby wouldn't actually be born for some time, so there was no point in him staying any longer. He decided to go to his office, thinking that maybe some paperwork would dull his mind sufficiently to calm his nerves. He put a hand to his still-aching stomach and left the hospital.

By the time he arrived at Hokage Tower, the pain had intensified and in addition he was feeling a burning sensation. It felt almost as though he was receiving a chakra burn from the inside out, but he reasoned that that didn't make any sense, right? He tried to ignore the burning as he turned to his paperwork.

A couple of hours later, his secretary ran in and, panting, relayed the message that his wife was about to give birth any minute now. The Rokudaime practically knocked the desk over as he dashed out of Hokage Tower and landed on the roof. About to leap from roof to roof, the pain in his stomach was too great for him and he fell to his knees. With a jerk that seemed to rip out his very essence, a huge amount of red chakra burst out of his stomach. He watched in horror as the chakra continued to escape. After what felt like an eternity, the chakra coagulated to form a creature that still haunted the nightmares of those few who had seen it twenty-five years ago and survived.

Once free of its vessel, the Kyuubi no Kitsune let out an earth-shattering roar, bent all four legs, and took off into the air, tearing apart many streets of Konoha as they felt the brunt of its weight.

Not knowing how the Kyuubi broke through his father's seal and, for the moment, not particularly caring, the Rokudaime shoved the matter to the side and immediately rushed off to the hospital. He made it in record time and burst through the door, startling everyone present with his spectacular entrance. He had been nicknamed the Orange Maelstrom for a reason. The receptionist snapped back to attention and told him what room his wife was in, and his form blurred out of the visible spectrum, his speed was so great.

He stopped on a dime in front of room 1010 and entered. He saw his wife panting heavily, her indigo locks partially covering her face. In-between her legs he saw Sakura, who was instructing her to push. He crossed the room and held his wife's hand, and she squeezed his in an iron grip that, had she possessed the insane strength of Tsunade or Sakura, would have easily shattered bone. They stood like that for several minutes in which the tension was so thick he could have cut it with a kunai, with his wife continuing to push and Sakura continuing to exhort her, until at last, at long last, she gave an almighty heave and their child tumbled out. Sakura announced that it was a boy, cut the umbilical cord, and began cleaning it while he and his wife looked into each other's eyes.

"Ashiteru," they said to each other, and to the newborn child that had just been presented to them. The child lay in her arms as the two new parents looked on adoringly. It was the happiest moment of his life.

Too bad it was about to be shattered into billions of pieces.

She had just handed him the baby and he began cradling it in his arms when a red, furry tail came crashing down through the roof of the hospital, passing less than a foot in front of him and his son in its passage. His wife wasn't so lucky. The tail hit her and knocked her through the floor until it finally made contact with the ground, crushing her underneath its weight.

"NO!" He shouted, a mixture of horror and rage coloring his features. "Hinata!"

It took every ounce of willpower he possessed to keep from vomiting at that moment. The tail rose up out of the hole it had made in its passage and flew up into the air. The Rokudaime looked out through the window and saw it. The Kyuubi. Wreaking havoc and destroying everything in sight. He looked at the Kyuubi, then down at his newborn son. When he looked back up at his former tenant, his gaze was one of pure rage.

"Sakura," he began, turning to the pink-haired medic-nin as he began making one-handed seals with the hand not cradling his son, "don't follow me."

"Kuchiyose no jutsu!" He roared, and half a second later he was riding upon Gababunta, the Frog Boss. As he rode up to the Kyuubi, he was soon joined by Jiraya, Tsunade, and Kakashi, who had leaped onto the frog's back. Other jounin were trying vainly to stop the Kyuubi while chuunin and genin lead civilians to shelter.

"Hold my son," he ordered to the copy-nin, and handed the child to him. Kakashi held the boy with one hand and raised the hitai-ate covering his sharingan eye with the other. Although the Rokudaime was going through hand seals at a rate a normal human couldn't hope to follow, Kakashi of the Sharingan Eye caught each one.

"No…" he murmured, having witnessed that technique been performed once before.

"I must," the Rokudaime replied. The three of them knew that they would have gladly done it instead; he had his whole life ahead of him, and they were growing old, but they knew that his sealing abilities were second to none. After all, he'd managed to seal away the Shukaku, allowing Sabaku no Gaara to finally be able to sleep without the raccoon eating away his soul.

For the second time in their lives, the jounin and two sannin watched as the Death God appeared in front of them. Kakashi, knowing his place, took off the swaddling cloths of the infant, leaving his stomach clear. The Rokudaime placed one hand on the Kyuubi, and the other on his son. The Death God reached into the Kyuubi, and the beast dissolved into pure red chakra. The chakra passed through the Rokudaime and began being funneled into the child. Then, something unexpected happened. The Hokage took his hands away and, using some of the chakra that was flowing through him, made another set of seals.

"I don't know how this thing got out of me," he grunted as he placed his hands back in the required positions, "but this'll prevent it from ever getting out of him." The red chakra completed its path through the Rokudaime and into the infant, who then grew a spiral seal over its stomach. The Hokage felt his eyelids growing heavy, and sank to his knees for the second time that day. He turned to face the other three.

"My son…will know who his parents were…" he told them sternly. They nodded. He turned to face the child. "Your life…will hopefully…be better…than mine." He coughed up a little bit of blood. "I leave you…Ichiraku…my son…" He drew one last shuddering breath and fell forward.

A ninja is taught never to show emotion. Emotions cloud the senses and cause one to make irrational decisions. This can prove devastating while on a mission, and get all of one's team members killed. However, Jiraya, Tsunade, and Kakashi couldn't help but openly shed tears.

Uzumaki Naruto, the greatest Hokage Konohagakure had ever known, was dead.

The only sound that penetrated the awful silence was the crying of an infant.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!!**

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Uzumaki Ichiraku whistled happily as he locked the door to his apartment and made his way down the streets of Konohagakure. Having just graduated from the Ninja Academy a few days ago, today would be the day he was assigned to a three-man squad.

"Ready to be part of a team?" a voice from directly behind him said as a hand ruffled his spiky indigo hair, making Ichiruka jump.

"Didn't see you there, Kakashi," he said. "But I'm as ready as I'll ever be, I guess."

"Any ideas on who you'll get for teammates?" The copy-nin asked as the two of them continued on side-by-side.

"Not a clue," he replied. And it was true-he really wasn't sure how he'd be ranked. Although he found the academy extremely easy, thanks to Jiraya's and Kakashi's private lessons, he purposely remained in the middle of the pack. He didn't want to draw a lot of attention to himself, and besides, this way he knew he wouldn't be teamed up with the last-place graduates.

As if reading his mind, Kakashi stated, "your dad was in last place when he graduated, you know. And I'd say he turned out okay." Ichiraku shrugged. "Anyway, I think I see an old lady that needs help crossing the street, so…"

"Ja ne," Ichiraku said with a shrug and a wave of his hand, and Kakashi vanished. A couple of minutes later he reached the academy and sat in one of the benches. Nobody in the crowded room did anything to acknowledge his presence. He sighed.

True, he wasn't picked on as badly as Jiraya and Kakashi say that his dad was, since this time around everybody knew that his father and grandfather were both hokage, but they still tended to avoid him. He wasn't complaining; to him, having friends meant less time available for training. Unfortunately, on days when Jiraya and Kakashi were both on missions, that left him b-o-r-e-d. He usually spent the spare time in the library, learning about some of the more famous ninja in Konoha and elsewhere. He zoned out as Iruka-sensei came to the front of the room, brushed some of his graying brown hair from his face, and began reading off the list of names for his team.

"…and team 7, Uzumaki Ichiruka," Ichiruka's ears perked up at the sound of his name, "Rock Gai, and Inuzuka Ami. Team 8 will be…" Ichiruka zoned out again, and this time thought about his new teammates. He knew that Gai wasn't able to use nin-jutsu or gen-jutsu, and that he was a tai-jutsu expert. He also knew that he tended to be overexhuberant at times, which usually kept things interesting. The kunoichi of their squad was an Inuzuka…they had been in different classes at the academy so he didn't know her on a personal level, but he surmised that she had a puppy with her just like every other Inuzuka. She would also have twin triangular tattoos on her cheekbones, so he'd be able to recognize her fairly quickly.

Apparently Iruka-sensei had finished reading off the list, because a bunch of jounin had just entered the room and were calling out the names of their squads. Ichiraku didn't hear anybody calling for Squad 7, so he didn't bother getting up. Pretty soon, there were only five other genin in the room. Just then, a jounin with white-blonde hair and blue eyes entered.

"Squad nine?" she asked. Three genin stood up and followed her outside. The three remaining genin came and sat together, and were about to introduce themselves when-

"GET YOUR LAZY ASS IN THERE! YOUR STUDENTS ARE THE LAST ONES LEFT, YOU KNOW!"

"Alright, alright…troublesome woman…" the three of them snickered and watched as a jounin with spiky black hair and a bored facial expression shuffled into the room and plopped down in front of them. He cleared his throat.

"They told me to take you guys somewhere with a nice view for our first meeting, but it's too troublesome…my name is Nara Shikamaru, and I guess I'm supposed to be your sensei. So why don't we go around and say our likes, dislikes, hopes and dreams for the future… all that troublesome stuff."

"Er… can you go first, sensei?" Ami asked. Shikamaru sighed.

"It's troublesome, but I guess so…as I said before, my name is Nara Shikamaru…I like watching the clouds and playing shogi…I dislike troublesome things…and I hope to live a laid-back, troublesome-thing-free life in the future." All of a sudden, Gai began bouncing up and down in his seat.

"Ooh! Pick me! Pick me, sensei!" He exclaimed. Shikamaru shrugged.

"Go ahead."

"I am Rock Gai!" he announced. "I like training in my tai-jutsu. I dislike people who look down on me because I cannot perform nin-jutsu or gen-jutsu. I hope to become an excellent ninja like my father in the future!"

"Great…now you." He pointed at Ami.

"My name is Inuzuka Ami. I train with my puppy, Kurenai, but my tou-san said that I didn't have to bring her here today, so she's at home. I like animal-lovers and dislike people who are mean to animals. I hope to become really strong like tou-san and his sister."

"Alright, then…and last but not least, Ramen Boy."

"Hey, it's not my fault my parents loved Ayame's Ramen!" Ichiraku protested. "Besides, my tou-san was named after a ramen topping also and he became Hokage!" he cleared his throat. "Anyway, my name's Uzumaki Ichiraku. Obviously, I like ramen. I also like training and learning new techniques. I dislike people who look down on others without first getting to know them, and people who think that they're better than others just because they're from a clan like the Uchiha or the Hyuuga. In the future I hope to become Hokage, just like my tou-san and my ojii-san." Shikamaru snickered.

"What?"

"It's just…you don't know much about your kaa-san, do you?"

"Her name was Uzumaki Hinata, she had the same color hair as me, and she died a couple of minutes after I was born."

"That's it?" Ichiraku nodded. Shikamaru shrugged.

"Okay, then." He turned to face all three of them. "Meet me tomorrow near the memorial stone at around 8:00 in the morning. Team 7 is dismissed." He stood up and slouched out of the room. The three genin turned to face each other.

"You're tou-san and ojii-san were both hokage?" The other two asked Ichiraku.

"Yeah…the Yondaime and the Rokudaime. It's not that big a deal…"

"Are you kidding? I bet you know tons of awesome jutsu!" Ami exclaimed excitedly. Ichiraku rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"Well…I do know a few…"

"Can you show us?" Gai asked. Ichiraku shook his head.

"Not now. Later, when I need to, I'll use one or two." The other two's gazes became downcast. Ichiraku sighed.

"All right, fine. I'll do one. But _only_ one." The other two perked up. "This one was my dad's favorite when he was growing up. Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he shouted the last part and was engulfed by a large puff of smoke. When it cleared, there were five genin where only one had stood before.

"You can make Kage Bunshin?" Ami asked, awed. "But that's like, a jounin-level move." The clones disappeared and Ichiraku turned a light blue eye on her.

"I told you…my tou-san learned it just before he graduated from the academy and it was his favorite when he was growing up…but that's enough for today. We should get going."

"Hai," the other two replied, and the three of them left the academy building.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

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The three genin arrived at the training fields at around the same time. They all sat down in front of the three wooden training posts that stood in the middle of a wide field.

"So, how's everyone feeling?" Ichiraku asked. Ami responded by yawning widely. A lump in the chest of her gray, fur-lined jacket shifted for a second, and then a small puppy stuck its head out. The puppy had black fur and red eyes, and it yawned right after its owner.

"Kurenai and me are exhausted…" the kunoichi mumbled.

"What about you, Gai?"

"The flames of my youth have yet to fully ignite at this early hour," the boy stated, his eyes partially closed with exhaustion. "What about you, Ichiraku?"

"It's really not that early," the spiky-haired boy stated. "This is around when the academy started, right?"

"Yeah, but that was closer to our houses, so we didn't have to worry about getting up early in order to get there on time," Ami protested.

"That's true…" Ichiraku conceded.

"Geez…and I thought _I_ was lazy…" they heard the voice of their sensei state as he slouched over to them.

"Ohayo, Shikamaru-sensei," the three genin chorused as they stood up.

"O-ohayo," he replied, stifling a yawn in the process. "Now, the reason I called you all here today is simple yet troublesome. Apparently too many people graduated this past year and Konoha is only allowed a certain number of new genin. Because of that, we have to administer a test in order to weed out those who aren't ready. So, ready to hear what you have to do?" The three of them nodded nervously. "Fine." He removed two bells from a pocket of his flak jacket and tied them to a hook on the waistline of the vest. "This is an older test that's proven very effective in the past. As you can see, there are two bells. The objective is for you to somehow get the bells from me. Whoever fails to get a bell will be sent back to the academy. Go." The three genin glanced at each other, then disappeared into the bushes.

"This test of yours had better not be too troublesome to administer, Kakashi," Shikamaru muttered to himself, then leaned back against the left-most post and began watching the clouds float by.

"This'll be tough…" Ichiraku muttered to himself. "We're just genin, there's no way we'll ever be able to take on a jounin on our own…maybe he has a weakness against tai-jutsu…a guy as lazy as him probably couldn't be bothered to train hard enough to get good in that field." He took off through the woods around the field in search of a certain fuzzy-eyebrowed tai-jutsu specialist. It wasn't long before he discovered a mass of glossy black hair crouched down on the branch of a medium-sized oak tree.

"Gai," he whispered. The other boy didn't hear him. Sighing to himself, Ichiraku leaped down and landed on the branch next to his teammate, the sound of sandal hitting bark scaring Gai and nearly making him fall off the branch.

"Ichiraku!" He exclaimed in an excited whisper as soon as he regained his balance. "How kind of you to seek me out!"

"No problem…listen, I have an idea. Is Ami near here?" They suddenly heard a small stream of water hitting the base of their tree. They looked down and saw Kurenai relieving herself on the tree trunk. They both stifled their laughter as Ami approached the puppy, clearly unaware of her teammates' presence right above her.

"All done, Kurenai? Good, now we should try and find the others…being all alone in this forest is giving me the chills." Kurenai barked once. "No, I didn't mean it like that! Of course I'm never alone when you're here; I just meant being with other people." The puppy barked again. "Don't worry, Kurenai, you'll be my best friend no matter what." She picked Kurenai up and hugged her tightly, then placed the puppy back inside of her jacket.

"Psst, Ami," Ichiraku whispered. Ami nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her name being called, then shot an angry glance upwards once she realized who it was.

"You scared me!" She whispered accusingly. Ichiraku shrugged, and Ami leaped up to the branch to join the two boys.

"So, what is this idea of yours, my youthful teammate?" Gai asked excitedly.

"Well, he's obviously really lazy, so I was thinking that you, Gai, should try to use tai-jutsu on him. A guy as lazy as him wouldn't be very good at something like tai-jutsu, right?" The other two pondered this for a moment.

"Makes sense, I guess…" Ami mused.

"Very well! Then I, Rock Gai, shall challenge our sensei to tai-jutsu!" Gai exclaimed, then immediately rushed out of the bushes and into the open fields. Ichiraku began focusing his chakra.

"I'm going to send a bit of chakra to my eyes, so maybe I'll be able to catch what's going on even though we're far away," he explained to Ami. The two of them watched as Gai approached Shikamaru.

"Prepare yourself, sensei!" Gai shouted, then began running at a high speed towards his opponent. He thrust a fist at Shikamaru, only to find that his hand passed right through what was apparently a clone. The fist instead made contact with the wooden post behind the clone as it vanished with a small _pop_.

"Sensei?" Gai asked, sounding confused as he looked first left, then right, then left again. Suddenly, he froze up.

"Nani?" He asked, now seriously bewildered. He watched as his left arm came up, then his hand patted the top of his head, then came back down to rest on his hip, all without his conscious control.

"A ninja must think many steps ahead and also be able to think on their feet." Shikamaru's voice came from directly behind Gai, but since he couldn't move on his own, he couldn't turn around to see his sensei. "After your initial attack failed, you simply stood around and made yourself a prime target for my kagemane no jutsu."

"What's going on?" Ami whispered to Ichiraku.

"I can't tell…a little more chakra…" he mumbled. He put just a bit more chakra into his eyes, when all of a sudden he reeled back in pain.

"What's wrong?" Ami asked, concerned.

"My eyes…" Ichiraku choked out, then turned to face her. She gasped. His irises had become larger than normal, and she could see an outline of the pupil right at the center. The veins around his eyes had become engorged and they practically popped out of the skin. However, less than ten seconds after the changes had occurred, they were gone.

"What just happened?" Ichiraku asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Darned if I know…" Ami replied. The two of them snuck a little closer to the clearing in order to see.

"That's funny…it doesn't look as though Gai is moving…I should check it out. You stay here and back me up if necessary," Ichiraku instructed Ami. The kunoichi shook her head.

"No way. You aren't in the greatest condition to fight, with your eyes being the way they are. Besides, Kurenai and I can fight!" Kurenai barked assertively. Ichiraku sighed.

"Fine…" he mumbled.

"I wonder when the other two will surface…" Shikamaru mused to himself. He pointed up at a cloud and Gai, being forced to imitate everything he did, pointed up at it as well.

"Gai, what does that one look like to you?" He asked.

"That cloud formation appears to resemble a tiger, sensei," Gai replied smartly. "Why are you so inquisitive? Is this part of the test as well?" Shikamaru, and in turn Gai, shrugged.

"Nah, I was just curious as to what you thought…" just then, Ami and Kurenai ran out of the woods and began charging at him.

"I could do this all day," Shikamaru sighed, and cast part of his shadow out towards the two. However, just before the shadow came in contact with them, the two of them leaped out of the way. The projection of shadow split in two with one of the segments chasing after Ami and the other chasing after Kurenai. The two ran in circles, spirals, zig-zags…basically in every kind of pattern as the shadows chased them. The shadows finally caught up to the two of them and trapped them. Suddenly, the two stuck their tongues out at him.

"Sorry, sensei," the two said as they changed into copies of Ichiraku, then disappeared in puffs of smoke.

"Kage Bunshin combined with a henge…not bad, for a recent graduate. Nice try, by the way, Ichiraku." Shikamaru's shadow, which had just withdrawn from the recently-recalled clones, shot off to the left and caught Ichiraku. The genin had attempted to sneak up on Shikamaru from behind and steal the bells while his sensei was busy chasing the clones.

"This test is over," he called out to the woods. "So you can come out, Ami." The girl slowly walked out from behind a tree, looking depressed. Shikamaru recalled his shadow, allowing the two boys to regain the ability to move. The two of them wore similar facial expressions to their female teammate.

"Hey, why the long faces?"

"We failed, sensei," Ami said flatly.

"We couldn't get any bells, even when we tried as hard as we could…I guess it's back to the academy for us…" Ichiraku said dejectedly.

"The springtime of my youth clearly has yet to spring fully," Gai added. Shikamaru chuckled.

"Hey, whoever said that you failed?" The three of them looked up. "Yeah, you didn't get a bell, but you were able to formulate a strategy and work as a team even though you haven't even known each other well for a whole day yet. I can tell that your teamwork will only grow given time, and for that I pass you." The three of them stared at him, openmouthed.

"So, what did you think of this?" He asked.

"It was troublesome," the three of them chorused, and Shikamaru chuckled.

"I guess I'm starting to rub off on you…" he noted. Just then, Ami elbowed Ichiraku on the arm.

"What?" He asked, annoyed, as he rubbed his arm.

"Tell him about your eyes," she said.

"What about his eyes?" Shikamaru asked. Ichiraku sighed.

"Well, I was focusing some chakra into them so that I'd be able to see you and Gai fighting better, when all of a sudden they started hurting really badly."

"The veins around his eyes popped out, and you could see the pupils," Ami added. Shikamaru rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"You should go see Hyuuga Hanabi," he finally said.

"What? The head of the Hyuuga clan? How will that help me?" Ichiraku asked him, confused.

"Just do it. Hanabi will be able to help you." Ichiraku sighed and scratched the back of his head.

"Do it tonight, because Team 7 starts its first mission tomorrow," Shikamaru said. The three genin cheered and gave each other high-fives. Ichiraku headed off in the direction of the Hyuuga Complex, while the other two went back home, chatting animatedly. Shikamaru lay down in the grass in front of the post and returned to cloud-watching.

"That Gai was wrong…it's definitely a boar, not a tiger…kid's too hyperactive to relax and watch the clouds properly. Tch, troublesome…"


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

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"What do you want, kid?" One of the two men guarding the entrance to the Hyuuga Complex gruffly asked Ichiraku as he approached the compound.

"Ano…my sensei told me that I should meet with Hyuuga Hanabi after training today." The two guards snickered.

"Do you have any idea how many people come by saying the same thing? Half the people in Konoha would give a lung just for two minutes of Hanabi-sama's time." Ichiraku nodded.

"Makes sense…can I make an appointment, then?"

"Sure," the larger of the two said with a chuckle, "her next available appointment should be sometime next month." Ichiraku sighed, turned around, and began to slowly walk away.

"Say, what's your name, kid?" the smaller of the two asked.

"Uzumaki Ichiraku…why?" Ichiraku turned around and found that the guards' eyes were the size of saucers. They began frantically whispering to each other, but as soon as they noticed Ichiraku's eyes on them, they jumped back to attention.

"On second thought…I think she can make time. Go on ahead."

"You mean it?" Ichiraku asked excitedly.

"Yeah, I mean it. Now get in there before I change my mind, Ichiraku-_sama_."

"Yatta!" Ichiraku shouted. He ran past the guards and through the gate of the complex. It wasn't until he was a good way inside that he realized the suffix that the man had given him. Intrigued but too preoccupied to go back and speak to the guards again, Ichiraku filed the matter away for further questioning

"Uzumaki Ichiraku…" the shorter of the two guards mused with a slight chuckle. "I wonder what he wants with the Chief?"

"Baka," the taller chastised as he smacked his colleague on the head. "He obviously inherited _it_…"

After wandering around the complex and looking wide-eyed at the opulent décor for a few minutes, Ichiraku was confronted with a problem. He didn't have the slightest idea where he would meet this Hanabi. He went around the entire complex, looking for any clues, but discovered nothing. Having lost hope that he'd ever find Hanabi, Ichiraku sighed deeply and walked towards the rear of the complex, where he'd seen a small koi pond with a few nice benches around it. He plopped down in one of the benches and watched one of the koi swim in lazy spirals. The scene was very tranquil, and Ichiraku was one step away from dozing off, when all of a sudden he felt something sharp and metallic press against his neck.

"You're clearly not a Hyuuga," said a cold, masculine voice behind him. "I don't know how you got in here, but if you do not state your name and your business here immediately the only way you will be leaving is in a body bag." Ichiraku gulped and slowly brought his hands up so that they were visible to the man.

"M-my n-name is Uzumaki Ichiraku. I c-came because my s-sensei told me that I should meet with H-hyuuga Hanabi." Ichiraku felt the pressure of the kunai on his neck decrease slightly.

"Did you say…Uzumaki?" The voice asked, its accusatory tone now questioning.

"H-hai." The pressure was relieved completely, and Ichiraku turned around to see his assailant kneeling.

"Gomenasai, Ichiraku-sama," the man said. "It won't happen again." Once Ichiraku saw the man, he immediately identified him as ANBU. He was wearing a bird-shaped mask that was artfully decorated with red and green swirls, and that covered his entire face so that only his eyes showed. He was also wearing a white hooded cloak, signifying that not only was he ANBU, but the ANBU Captain. The hood was down, revealing the man's long, brown hair.

"Ano…it's okay. Just…why is everyone calling me sama?" Ichiraku asked. The man stood up.

"I think I should let Hanabi-sama explain," he said. "Follow me, I have a meeting with her anyway." He stood up and began walking away.

"And if I may say so myself, Ichiraku-sama," he added, "when you stutter you sound very much like your mother." Ichiraku was too surprised by this statement to formulate an answer, and instead silently followed the ANBU Captain as he entered a grandiose building. The two of them removed their sandals.

When they approached a sliding door, the man pulled off his mask and quietly slid the door open. He entered the room and promptly kneeled. Ichiraku entered behind him and followed his example.

"Neji-san?" A feminine voice asked. "What is the meaning of this? This meeting was supposed to be confidential." Ichiraku looked up. Sitting behind a wooden desk was a woman with indigo hair and lavender, Hyuuga eyes. She appeared to be in her mid-thirties, and was wearing formal white robes.

"Hanabi-sama," the man, now identified as Neji, began, "this boy is your nephew." There was an eerie silence following this statement. A second ticked by ever so slowly, then five seconds, then ten seconds. Finally,

"NANI?" Both Hanabi and Ichiraku exclaimed at once.

"She's my _aunt_?"

"He's my _nephew_?" Neji nodded.

"Ichiraku-sama is the son of Naruto-san and Hinata-sama." Hanabi nodded.

"He does have her hair…although it sticks up, just like his…" Ichiraku pulled down a fringe of hair and noticed that it was the exact same shade as Hanabi's.

"I'm guessing that my ka-san was pretty important, right?" Hanabi nodded a second time.

"My sister was the Hyuuga Clan's heiress before she got married." Ichiraku's eyes practically bugged out of his head.

"Clan _heiress_? As in, she would've been the head of the entire Clan?" He scratched his head. "Then…wouldn't that make _me_ the new clan head?"

"The Clan Elders decided that, by marrying out of the clan, my sister revoked her title as clan heiress. The title was then passed down to our father's, Hiashi's, second child, me." Hanabi conveniently left out the fact that the elders had adamantly refused to allow the status of Clan Head to pass to the container of the Kyuubi.

"I see," Ichiraku said. This explained why Neji and the guards were calling him sama before.

"Now, why did you want to come and see me?"

"Well, today was our genin test, and when I was trying to focus chakra to my eyes in order to see my sensei better from far away, I felt this pain. My teammate told me that she saw veins around my eyes pop out, and that my eyes turned really weird-looking."

"Hm…" Hanabi nodded knowingly as she observed Ichiraku with a critical gaze. "Try sending chakra to your eyes again." Ichiraku molded some chakra and caused it to flow through his chakra circulatory system and up into his eyes. He put a little more chakra into it, and all of a sudden he saw the now-familiar flash of white light, although it was slightly less painful than before. He looked up and noticed that he could see right _through_ the wooden desk, walls, and floor, and even was able to see though Hanabi's skin and into her chakra network.

"There's no mistaking it…" Hanabi muttered. With more volume, she said, "Ichiraku, it seems as though you've inherited the byakugan, the Hyuuga Clan's kekie genkai."

"I have a bloodline?" Ichiraku asked excitedly. Hanabi nodded.

"The byakugan allows you to see a person's chakra network. It also allows you to see in greater detail, gives you a 360 degree field of vision, and a 50 meter radius."

"Whoa…that's so awesome…" Ichiraku muttered.

"Of course," said Hanabi, "you will need someone to teach you how to use your byakugan. Neji-san will be instructing you."

"Nani? Demo…I can't…I've got ANBU duties…" Neji sputtered.

"Tough," Hanabi growled. "Besides, Ichiraku's got training and missions as well. The two of you will simply have to work out a time to practice together. Besides," her face softened. "It's the least you could do for Naruto-san and Hinata-sama." Neji nodded.

"Very well."

"Good. Now, Ichiraku, could you please excuse us? I _do_ need to discuss several things with Neji-san." Ichiraku nodded.

"Hai. Ja ne!" He left the room, put on his sandals, and took off towards home.


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto!**

* * *

It was a full moon that night.

Ichiraku ran a hand through his indigo hair as he sat on his father's stone head at the Hokage Monument, looking up at the silvery orb. He sighed and looked down at the village spread out below him.

"I started today not liking clans like the Hyuuga because they all think they're better than everyone else, not to mention the fact that they all have sticks up their asses. But now…my mom was the friggin' _heiress_." He felt rather than heard a small whoosh of displaced air as someone landed right next to him.

"Yo."

"Konbanwa, Kakashi-kun," Ichiraku addressed the copy-nin.

"Why the long face? Did Ayame's suddenly go bankrupt or something?" Ichiraku chuckled dryly and looked up.

"Nah…I just found out that my mom was a Hyuuga."

"So?" Kakashi hoped that the clan members he'd spoken to hadn't implanted the idea that his mother was weak into the boy's head. He'd never known Hinata all that well, but he'd heard Naruto ramble about how strong a kunoichi she was enough to know that she wasn't a pushover.

"So…I always thought that members of the Uchiha and the Hyuuga were asses because of the way they treat people." Kakshi chuckled.

"Let me tell you about a friend of mine," he began.

"Don't tell me it was one of my dad's teammates," Ichiraku groaned.

"Nope, this was from when I was being trained."

"You? What was that, a century ago?" Kakashi whacked him on the head with a small orange book.

"I'm not _that_ old…"

"Oh really? Who trained you?"

"Yondaime Hokage."

"Ojii-chan? Really?" Kakashi nodded.

"The other two members of my team were a kunoichi named Rin, and a shinobi named Uchiha Obito." Ichiraku gaped at him.

"You had an Uchiha on your team?" He gave a low whistle.

"Yeah…man, that kid was annoying." Ichiraku couldn't believe his ears.

"Annoying? How?" Kakashi scratched his head.

"He was really loud and hyperactive…but he taught me something important."

"And what would that be?"

"He taught me to always protect one's teammates at the cost of completing the mission. He was the one who taught me that those who break the rules are trash, but those who abandon their friends are lower than trash."

"A hyperactive ninja that chooses teammates over completing the mission? That doesn't sound like an Uchiha to me," Ichiraku asserted.

"That's the point. Just because a person is a member of a certain clan, doesn't mean that they'll automatically act all superior." Ichiraku sighed.

"I guess…"

"So how did you go about finding out your origins?"

"You know the bell test?" Kakashi snorted.

"Your sensei stole my test? I'll have to get him back for that…"

"Okaay…anyway, during the test I figured out how to use the byakugan."

"You ended up getting the byakugan? Really?" Ichiraku nodded. "Hm…If you have a strong bloodline on your side, then I guess there _is_ hope for you as a ninja after all…" Ichiraku swiped at him playfully, but Kakashi dodged at the last second.

"Or perhaps not…" Ichiraku was laughing as he jumped up and began chasing after the copy-nin. Kakashi led him off of the monument and through the main thoroughfares of Konohagakure. He turned around a corner and found Kakashi standing just outside of Ayame's Ramen, and a second later the silver-haired jounin teleported away in a puff of smoke. Ichiraku chuckled to himself as he entered the ramen stand.

"One miso ramen, please," he said.

"Coming right up!" Ayame replied cheerfully as she turned around and began preparing the dish.

"Also one beef ramen, please," said a feminine voice behind Ichiraku. A second later, Ami sat down in the seat next to Ichiraku, Kurenai safely tucked into her jacket.

"Sure!" Ayame said.

"Ami?" Ichiraku asked. "What are you doing here?"

"What? You're not the only person in this entire village who likes ramen, you know." Ichiraku gave a small chuckle.

"I guess that's true." Just then, Ayame placed the two bowls of ramen in front of the genin.

"You _know_ it's true. Anyway, did you find out what was wrong with your eyes?"

"Yeah…turns out that my mom was part of the Hyuuga Clan." Ami's eyes widened.

"_The_ Hyuuga Clan?" Ichiraku nodded.

"Itadakimasu," they chorused, then broke their chopsticks and dug into the ramen. Ichiraku noticed that Ami took out a couple pieces of beef from her ramen and fed them to Kurenai.

"You're a really good pet owner, you know that?" she blushed slightly.

"Thanks…I get a lot of practice. We have so many dogs at my house; I'm always taking care of one or the other."

"But Kurenai is your favorite?"

"Well, yeah…but also my tou-san gave her to me when I graduated from the academy. He says that she's named after his old sensei." She patted the top of Kurenai's head affectionately. Ichiraku nodded. They finished their ramen and each pulled out some money.

"Don't worry about it," Ichiraku asserted. He put enough money for both meals on the counter.

"No way. I'm not letting you pay for me."

"And why not?"

"Because…you don't have to. It's not like we're on a date or anything." Ichiraku shrugged. He stood up, not making any move to take back his money.

"See you tomorrow, Ami," he said with a small smile. He left the stand.

"Come back here right now!" Ami yelled. She stomped past the red flaps to try and grab her teammate by the collar and force him to take back his money, but he'd vanished. Ami growled as she stalked back home.

Ichiraku was chuckling as he leapt off of a nearby rooftop and landed in front of his apartment. He took his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the door.

"What an eventful day," he mused as he entered his home.


End file.
